Thursday, December 9, 2010

Traditions

The Vanley family has a LOT of traditions, especially during the holiday season. It starts with the menu for both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and spans the gamut. I thought it might be fun to share just a few of them with you.

1. Holiday (Thanksgiving and Christmas) Menu - Must include: Broccoli casserole, Cran-Raspberry salad, stuffing made from home made bread, biscuits and cornbread, Shipwreck (another concoction made with jello, crushed pineapple, cottage cheese and cool whip. No, we haven't a clue why it is named "Shipwreck".
2. Fresh Cinnamon Rolls on Christmas morning.
3. New Christmas PJ's- The only gift opened on Christmas Eve.
4. Christmas Cookies: Nutcracker Suites, Cherry Winks, Grasshopper Bars and Gingerbread Men, Whoopie Pies and Wish Cookies (if Rachel is with us)
5. Other Baking: Cranberry Orange Bread, Pumpkin Roll, Mincemeat Pie
5. All white Christmas Eve dinner: New England Clam Chowder, fresh yeast rolls, Egg Nog.
6. Christmas movies: The Santa Claus - Always watched on Christmas Eve. Other movies: Christmas Vacation, Elf, Home Alone. (I never could get anyone to watch "A Christmas Carol" with me so I just watch that by myself!)
7. Every year the kids get a new ornament for the tree.
8. Recently, I've been adding to Brian's Christmas Moose collection. (He was given the nickname "Moose" by a family friend several years back.)

Traditions are a wonderful way of building family and strengthening the ties that bind you together. They are a part of your family story. No matter how old my children get they still seem to cling to these family traditions and even get upset if I try to "mix it up" a little bit.